Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center
Encyclopedia
Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center (originally Hostal Santa María de los Buenos Aires) is a five-star hotel located in the District of Retiro
, Buenos Aires
, Argentina
.
office park, touching off an important urban redevelopment effort in what had been a derelict annex of the Port of Buenos Aires
. The northernmost parcel in the district, a 26,700 m² (287,000 ft²) lot, was sold by MCBA to local developer Kokourek S.A. on October 22, 1968, and plans were approved for the development of the first Sheraton Hotel in Argentina.
Ground was broken on the project by Mayor Manuel Iricíbar on June 26, 1969, and the hotel was inaugurated as the Hostal Santa María de los Buenos Aires on August 24, 1972.
The building, one of the first Argentine hotels built in the International style
, was designed by SEPRA architects Santiago Sánchez Elía, Federico Peralta Ramos, and Alfredo Agostini; SEPRA would subsequently design numerous other high-rises in the district, and became one of the leading architectural firms in Argentina.
The original project featured a indoor shopping center, promenade, gardens, and an auditorium with capacity for 230 people. A convention center
, restaurants, and bars were placed along the first floor promenade, and the hotel also featured terraces, two tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, banquet hall, and other amenities, including an extensive underground parking lot and a rooftop restaurant with terraces and a view of the Río de la Plata
. The hotel originally housed 24 stories, and 739 rooms, with 33 suites located at either end of the building.
The building saw a significant expansion with the 1996 addition of another hotel, the Park Tower, a Luxury Collection Hotel. Featuring 181 luxury rooms and suites, the 23-story, 91 m (299 ft)part of the Starwood Hotels The Luxury Collection, enhanced its reputation as the premier business accommodation in Argentina. Also in this expansion, the Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center doubled its convention capacity to 2,000 with the opening of the new Convention Center in March 1996, and a Neptune Pool & Fitness Center was completed in December. The combined facilities became the single largest hotel complex in Latin America,
Among the first notable guests following these additions were international Korea
n businessman Sun Myung Moon
and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who were on hand in November, 1996, to inaugurate Tiempos del Mundo (a News World Communications
newsdaily published until 2007).
Retiro, Buenos Aires
Retiro is a barrio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the northeast end of the city, Retiro is bordered on the south by the Puerto Madero and San Nicolás wards, and on the west by the Recoleta ward.-Urban character:...
, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Overview
A municipal ordinance enacted in 1967 commissioned the Municipal Department of Architecture and Urbanism (MCBA) to create the Catalinas NorteCatalinas Norte
Catalinas Norte is an important business complex composed of fifteen commercial office buildings, in two sections, and occupied by numerous leading Argentine companies, foreign subsidiaries, diplomatic offices, and a hotel...
office park, touching off an important urban redevelopment effort in what had been a derelict annex of the Port of Buenos Aires
Port of Buenos Aires
The Port of Buenos Aires is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the Administración General de Puertos , a State enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point for the foreign trade of Argentina....
. The northernmost parcel in the district, a 26,700 m² (287,000 ft²) lot, was sold by MCBA to local developer Kokourek S.A. on October 22, 1968, and plans were approved for the development of the first Sheraton Hotel in Argentina.
Ground was broken on the project by Mayor Manuel Iricíbar on June 26, 1969, and the hotel was inaugurated as the Hostal Santa María de los Buenos Aires on August 24, 1972.
The building, one of the first Argentine hotels built in the International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
, was designed by SEPRA architects Santiago Sánchez Elía, Federico Peralta Ramos, and Alfredo Agostini; SEPRA would subsequently design numerous other high-rises in the district, and became one of the leading architectural firms in Argentina.
The original project featured a indoor shopping center, promenade, gardens, and an auditorium with capacity for 230 people. A convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
, restaurants, and bars were placed along the first floor promenade, and the hotel also featured terraces, two tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, banquet hall, and other amenities, including an extensive underground parking lot and a rooftop restaurant with terraces and a view of the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
. The hotel originally housed 24 stories, and 739 rooms, with 33 suites located at either end of the building.
The building saw a significant expansion with the 1996 addition of another hotel, the Park Tower, a Luxury Collection Hotel. Featuring 181 luxury rooms and suites, the 23-story, 91 m (299 ft)part of the Starwood Hotels The Luxury Collection, enhanced its reputation as the premier business accommodation in Argentina. Also in this expansion, the Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center doubled its convention capacity to 2,000 with the opening of the new Convention Center in March 1996, and a Neptune Pool & Fitness Center was completed in December. The combined facilities became the single largest hotel complex in Latin America,
Among the first notable guests following these additions were international Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n businessman Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
and former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who were on hand in November, 1996, to inaugurate Tiempos del Mundo (a News World Communications
News World Communications
News World Communications, Inc., is an international news media corporation. It was founded in New York City, in 1976, by Unification Church founder and leader, Sun Myung Moon. Its first two newspapers, The News World and the Spanish-language Noticias del Mundo, were published in New York from...
newsdaily published until 2007).